Born This Way Ball
The Born This Way Ball was the third concert tour by American singer Lady Gaga, in support of her second studio album Born This Way. The tour visited every populated continent, and was ranked as the fifth highest-grossing tour of 2012 by Pollstar. The tour grossed $22.5 million in 2013 according to Pollstar's year-end chart from the 18 dates played, bringing the Born This Way Ball Tour's total gross to $183.9 million from 98 dates. The tour was well received by critics who praised the stage design, Gaga's vocal abilities and different expressive messages.
On February 13, 2013, after already announcing the postponement of shows in Chicago, Detroit, and Hamilton two days earlier due to an injury, Live Nation and Lady Gaga announced the cancellation of the remaining concert dates due to the singer's development of a labral tear of the right hip caused by strenuous repetitive movements involved in the shows. The singer went through surgery to fix the damage caused.
Background and development
Upon the release of "Judas", the second single from Born This Way, Lady Gaga confirmed in an interview that she would embark on a concert tour in 2012, in which she would visit Latin American countries for the first time, like Brazil, Chile and Colombia, and would be returning to Mexico. In November 2011, producer DJ White Shadow asserted that Gaga was "doing for the next round of touring", adding that the singer's main objective in the following year was to continue preparing for the Born This Way Ball, as well as write new songs for her next studio album. Fernando Garibay, who began collaborating with Gaga on The Fame Monster, felt that Born This Way was one of his most personal moments. He opined: "This album was the most personal the amount of detail that went into this record, the amount of passion emotion from her and the team. Every song was a story towards the 'Born This Way' theme. We're excited now, putting that into the tour and expressing that on a live performance level." In comparison to her previous tour, Garibay affirmed that the shows of the Born This Way Ball would be more "exaggerated".A promotional poster of the tour was released on February 7, 2012, which was described by Billboard Ray Waddell as a "bizarre poster that portrays the ball as a campy, medieval-meets-the-80's kingdom." It features Gaga's face hovering over dark clouds looking down from the sky, and includes colors such as neon-purple and turquoise. She is also fused into a keytar, standing near her dancers in front of a medieval castle. The first leg for the Born This Way Ball was announced the following day, revealing that Gaga would perform several concerts in Asia, including in Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea. Additional dates were added to the Asia-Pacific leg on February 15, 2012. Live Nation Global Touring CEO Arthur Fogel and his team would steer around the tour, as they did the bulk of The Monster Ball Tour. Fogel explained that "The last tour established as a major act worldwide and I believe this tour will be an extension of that, particularly considering we're going to territories she's never been in, like Southeast Asia and Latin America."
File:Lady Gaga, Versace.jpg|thumb|upright|Lady Gaga performing "The Edge of Glory" in a Versace-designed cloth. Donatella Versace provided multiple outfits for the tour.
A European leg was announced in March 2012, which consisted of 21 dates over a period of two months, kicking-off in Sofia, Bulgaria, and concluding in Spain. Soon thereafter, German electronic musician Zedd was declared as Gaga's opening act for the Asian leg of the tour, while longtime collaborator Lady Starlight and British glam rock band The Darkness were approached as opening acts for the European portion of the tour. On their website, The Darkness stated that they were "honoured to announce their addition to the bill as main support for Lady Gaga's Born This Way Ball tour 2012." Dates for Latin America were announced on August 6, 2012, via Twitter. There were two initial dates in North America and four in South America, with more soon added.
Gaga evaluated the tour as an "electro-metal pop-opera" and "the tale of the Beginning, the genesis of the Kingdom of Fame. How we were birthed and how we will die celebrating." Dance rehearsals were held for approximately one month. In February 2012, Gaga revealed that she would release visuals of the show's stage set via Twitter. The singer unveiled a sketch of the stage design, which was created by Gaga herself along with her creative team, Haus of Gaga. She tweeted: "I'm so excited. The Haus has been working so hard, we can't wait for you to see it!! Love you Little Monsters, have the time of your life." The stage was built over a period of several months, and was modeled after a medieval-gothic castle, featuring tall viewing towers, intricate carvings and a large catwalk to interact with the floor audience. The spectacle required at least 15 trailers to move the castle onto the stage, each one measuring nearly 53 feet long. The area enclosed by the catwalk was described by Gaga as "The Monster Pit". "The Monster Pit is General Admission only, and Little Monsters unlock it when they arrive to the arena or stadium. Entry to The Monster Pit is relegated to the fans who have arrived first, waited all night, dressed to 'Ball.' Every night Haus of Gaga will choose fans from The Monster Pit to come back stage and meet me! These tickets are not more expensive. No dress code requirement. Born This Way means anything goes."
As part of an advertising campaign in the weeks prior to the tour, sketches of four costumes designed by Giorgio Armani were released to the press; Armani previously dressed Gaga for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, and later, on the Monster Ball Tour. Many other costumes on the tour were created by Donatella Versace.
Concert synopsis
The show was set in and around a large medieval-style land and castle, dubbed the "Kingdom of Fame", which rotated and maneuvered throughout. A classical score accompanied the concert's interludes, tying-in with the dark, operatic themes. The show began with "Highway Unicorn ", featuring an extended intro in which Gaga performed atop a manually operated "horse" puppet built exclusively by The Jim Henson Company. After the opening number, the stage went dark and spotlights were shone across the stage with a helicopter sound being played. The audience then heard "Mother G.O.A.T." speak for the first time, stating that "alien fugitive Lady Gaga has escaped", and that "Operation: Kill the Bitch" was in order. Gaga appeared in an alien-like costume for "Government Hooker", in which she pretended to seduce a dancer, dressed in a suit, before "killing" him and leaving the stage. Gaga's dancers then re-enacted the "birth" scene of "Born This Way", as Gaga groaned and simulated being in labor, before exiting a zipper-like "vagina" of a large, inflatable body.After "Black Jesus + Amen Fashion" and "Bloody Mary", an interlude commenced, and the opening dialogue of the music video of "Born This Way" could be heard For "Bad Romance", Gaga arrived on stage inside of a vessel. Following this, she escaped to the top of the castle for "Judas", before escaping and performing "Fashion of His Love" and "Just Dance". During "LoveGame", a clear bathtub, built on the stage, featured Gaga singing inside. After a break and brief chat from the singer, in which she thanked the audience for coming to the show, "Telephone" was performed, with its original choreography. An interlude followed, with Mother G.O.A.T. describing "Gaga's takeover of planet earth". "Heavy Metal Lover" was performed next; Gaga appeared atop the body of a motor-"tricycle" with her arms in two slots, a recreation of her album cover. Gaga drove-around the Monster Pit, followed by choreography for the last chorus of the song. After "Bad Kids", an acoustic section followed with songs like "Hair", "Princess Die", and "You and I". The section concluded with "Electric Chapel", with a display of flashing lights before Gaga left the stage.
After a Spanish guitar intro, Gaga then returned in a recreation of her iconic meat dress for "Americano". "Poker Face" was next; at the end of the song, Gaga was lowered into a "meat grinder", before later emerging from the stage sitting on a "meat couch" to perform "Alejandro" in a gun-bra and green trousers. The castle closed with an interlude and blue lights. Mother G.O.A.T. flew about the castle, mouthing the words of the first verse of "Paparazzi", until Gaga returned to "kill" her with her new disco-stick. Gaga then gave a speech about how there are "no boundaries in music", before performing "Scheiße". After the song, the stage went black. Moments later, Gaga was seen in one of the castle towers for "The Edge of Glory" and the final song, "Marry the Night". When the show ended, Gaga and her dancers were lowered off-stage and the castle went dark.
Critical response
Asia, Oceania and South Africa
The Korea Herald journalist Cho Chung-un opined that Gaga "captivated the audience" with what he described as "innovative and breathtaking stage installations and ideas" during the performance. Writing for the same publication, Emma Kalka complemented Gaga's wardrobe, and cited several segments, such as her "Americano" performance, as highlights of the concert. To Kwaak Je-yup of The Korea Times, the performance demonstrated Gaga's abilities as a performing artist, stating: "Friday night was Lady Gaga at her best, fusing fashion and designs with great melodies and dance moves."A writer for MTV noted the elaborate visuals of the show with its "Gothic castle backdrop and myriad costume changes", concluding that it was "clear that Gaga has outdone even her own Monster Ball in terms of spectacle." Elizabeth Soh of Yahoo! gave a positive review of the Singapore concert, describing it as "at times shocking, raunchy, mellow and just plain bizarre." The New Zealand Herald felt that it was "obvious Gaga believes in her message, you can feel it in her voice. Behind all the lights, glitz, meat, guns and exploding bras is a singer of exceptional talent". Regarding her first show in Brisbane, the Brisbane Times gave it five stars, writing that it was "pure pop theatre", and that "the crowd was simply lost in the Gaga experience. Sean Sennet of The Australian commented that the show was "An extravaganza in every sense" and will be "remembered as a benchmark tour."
Simon Sweetman of New Zealand's Stuff.co.nz praised the tour's three nights in Auckland as the best pop concerts since Janet Jackson's The ''Velvet Rope Tour. South African publication The New Age gave Gaga's performance in Johannesburg five stars, stating that "Gaga's energy teamed with a bevy of spectacular dancers made for an electric show". South African newspaper The Times''s Nikita Ramkissoon shared in this praise, writing that she "was really taken by was her natural talent... From arriving on stage on a horse, birthing herself, dancing dripping with sex and magnificence, Black Jesus and legs splayed open on an armchair made of meat, this performance was nothing short of spectacular. Every minute of it... Everyone know who was there was blown away. You just had to be there to see how impressive it was".